Hardships
by BellaMarieSwanCullen97
Summary: One-Shot I own everything in this story. Alice has always taken care of her younger siblings what happens when 3 tragedies take place in the course of a year.


Erin Carney

November 29, 2011

_*Flashback*_

"_Mama please don't leave me." I was openly crying now. "Alice, baby be strong now. Take care of your siblings. I love you." With that my mother closed her eyes and took her last breath_

_*End of Flashback*_

I was snapped out of my day dream by the sound of crying "Alice, Virginia's crying" my sister Rose said walking into the room. Looking at her I couldn't help comparing her to mama, they were so much alike. "Ok thank you for telling me I wasn't sure if it was her or Jack. I'll go check on her' I got up from my sewing and put it aside. I patted Rose on the head and walked into the nursery and took Virginia out of the crib thinking about how much I missed my mother and how Virginia's twin hadn't survived. Unfortunately I couldn't do anything about it mama had died during child birth and Virginia's twin had been what papa called a still born. Meanwhile Virginia was still crying so I decided to bring her to the kitchen and get her bottle. When I got there I was shocked to see my papa there stirring a pot on the stove. "Papa! What are you doing home so early? I wasn't expecting you for another hour or so." Papa worked in a field about 5 miles south of our house. "I'm home because it's a certain girl's birthday today."I scanned my mind Rose's birthday was 2months ago and Virginia's 1st birthday was in 3 weeks. Then I remembered that today was June 10th. It was my 14th birthday!"Oh my, thank you papa. I have to say I completely forgot" Papa smiled at me and gave me a kiss as he took Virginia from me. I sent him a questioning look. "Since it's your birthday I'm taking her off your hands, now gather everyone in the living room. I have some news." I went around the house and got Anthony and Jack from their room and William from the dining room where he was listening to the radio. Rose was already in the living room. /once everyone had gathered in the living room papa began to speak."I've got good news and bad news. The bad news is I lost my job and we have to travel to California. The good news is Aunt Edith and Uncle William will be traveling with us." He looked at us waiting for our reactions. Virginia just cooed happily, her and Jack were really too young to understand anything. Anthony and William just looked at each other and shrugged. Rose however looked on the verge of tears. "Papa are you sure about this" Papa thought about it for a minute and Rose looked hopeful."Yes. I'm sure."That did it Rose ran into out room crying. Papa looked at me worry spread across his face. "I'll go talk to her. Just so I know when are we leaving." He looked at me again relief clear on his face. "Tomorrow." I wonder how shocked I looked "Ok. After I talk to her I'll start packing." He started to say something but I interrupted. "I want to do it even if it's my birthday. Just one more question. How are we getting to California?" Papa leaned back on the couch. "We are driving. Before you ask we are taking both our car and your Aunt's car." I nodded then went to talk to Rose. I assured her that mama would have jumped at the chance to go on a new adventure and would want her to feel the same way. After our talk I started packing. I packed m all of the stuff that we would definitely need in California. Once everything was packed I put it in the car and set aside a bag for the few things we would need to put in there in the morning. When I went to bed that night I thought about California and all the terrible things that could happen on the way there. I was grateful when sleep finally over took me. The next morning dawned bright and early, I was making a quick breakfast when Aunt Edith and Uncle William cam in. "Aunt Edith!" I ran and gave her a hug. "Oh my, Slice look at you you've grown so much." I had always been close to my Aunt. We had grown even closer after my mom had passed away. Mama and Aunt Edith were sisters so we had been able to lean on each other. Papa came in with my siblings "Grab something to eat and get in a car." I thought about how we could arrange everyone in the two cars. "I have an idea. What if we put girls in one car boys in another?" I looked around waiting for an answer. Finally papa spoke up. "That's a wonderful idea. Now let's get going." Everybody got into the two cars and we were on our way after one last look at around the house to make sure we hadn't forgot anything. The next two weeks were uneventful. They were full of watching my sisters, eating, and sleeping. Suddenly just outside of Nevada my Uncle got really sick. We decided to wait a couple of days before moving on so my uncle could get better. The day before we had decided to reevaluate papa came out of the tent crying. "Your uncle passed away during the night." Aunt Edith and I clung to each other and cried. After everyone had calmed down we decided that it would be best if we continued our journey. About a week later we reached the border of California. The man there took one look at us and asked my father "Are you a farmer?" Papa cleared his throat before answering "Yes sir, I am. My name is Charles Brandon and this is my family. My sister in-law Edith and my children Alice, Rose, William Jr., Anthony, Jack, and Virginia." He indicated to us as he said each of our names. "Well sir, we have some work for you if you and your family will follow me." He got into his car and started to drive checking to make sure we were following. He led us to a shack just big enough for the eight of us. "This is where you will be living. Your family is welcome to stay here and unpack while I show you where you will be working." Papa followed the kind man out and we decided to unpack. When Papa came back dinner was almost ready. "When do you start?" He took a bite if food. "Tomorrow." That night as I lay in bed I thought about how lucky we were to have made it. Sure I was sad my uncle had died but I wasn't going to dwell on it. Sleep was just about to overcome me when I realized that today was Virginia's 1st birthday. "Happy Birthday Virginia" I whispered as I fell asleep.


End file.
